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Monday, 24 March 2014

ITC to help boost tourist appeal of Kayah State

The International Trade Centre (ITC) will provide technical support to Kayah State, which lags behind other parts of the country in developing its travel and tour businesses, to help it become a more attractive tourist destination, according to the Union of Myanmar Travel Association.

Starting from this May, ITC is planning to develop more job opportunities for people living in that region. Kayah State has been chosen by ITC because its travel and tourism sector is the least developed among all of Myanmar’s regions and yet the beauty of its natural landscape has much potential to attract tourists.“It is not easy to implement development on a country-wide level. So, firstly, Kayah State with its many prospects for travel business is going to be developed with tourist attractions like those in Bagan and Inle Lake. Later, Kayah State will become a model. Other developing regions are in the development plan, as well,” a UMTA statement says.

The ITC will also support tourism-related technologies for hotels, restaurants, servicing and tour-guide services. As such, more job opportunities for regional people are expected.

“Concerning the hotels, it is about how to provide service. For tour guides, it is about where to bring their tourists. This group will share knowledge with the regional people about what kind of products attracts tourists and the way to sell them,” says the UMTA.At present, tourists are reportedly not allowed to visit Kayah State. While some people do visit there, the state sees very few tourists.

The International Trade Center (ITC), which is technically supporting Kayah State, is one of the organizations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UNCTAD. The ITC is helping the travel and tour sector because they want to support technology not only in economics but also in the service industry.